Great Recession in Europe

Greece said on Tuesday the final yield for its new 10-year bond was set at 3.90 pct after offers for the paper exceeded 11.3 billion euros.

The initial price range for the bond, the first such maturity since 2010, was for a yield of 4.125 percent.

Greece aims to raise at least 2 billion euros from the sale, banking sources said. [Reuters]

Greek bond yields eased significantly on Tuesday, in line with other eurozone peripheral bonds, remaining on the positive course set in mid-January, right after the issue of the five-year note. This is paving the way for the Public Debt Management Agency to implement the plan to issue a benchmark 10-year bond next month.

Greece may attempt a second bond sale next month, its second since it emerged from an international bailout program last August, sources close to the matter said on Tuesday.
Athens aims to raise 5 billion to 7 billion euros from bond markets this year to finance part of its debt needs, according to its first annual borrowing programme since a debt crisis in 2010.

Greece is no longer a European Union laggard in terms of the increase in property prices, as the rapid rise of short-term rentals and the Golden Visa program for non-EU buyers have put the local market firmly on the growth path.

Greece has launched a 5-year bond auction, the first time the country has tapped international capital markets for financing since it emerged from its bailout programs in August.

The house price index increased by 10.5 percent in November 2018 from the same month of the previous year, data from the Central Bank showed on Jan. 17.

Unemployment in the eurozone unexpectedly fell in November to its lowest rate in more than 10 years, official estimates released on Wednesday showed.

The EU statistics office Eurostat said unemployment in the 19-country currency bloc dropped to 7.9 percent in November, the lowest level since October 2008, and below economists' forecasts of an 8.1 percent rate.

Unemployment in the eurozone fell in November, data showed on Wednesday, as joblessness in Europe neared pre-crisis levels, reports AFP. 

Eurostat said the jobless rate in the single currency area fell to 7.9 percent in November, a 10-year low and down from a revised 8.0 percent for the previous month.

The 2019 budget agreement reached between Italy and the EU is likely to ease market concerns. Rome and Brussels had gone head-to-head since October over the original high-spending fiscal plan, reported DW. 

Italian lawmakers on Saturday passed the government's 2019 budget, soothing market angst after Rome reached a compromise with the European Commission last week.

As next year looks set to bring multiple challenges in global markets, it is important for Greece to convince international investors that the fiscal risk has diminished and to normalize its credit system, UBS Wealth Management Global Chief Economist Paul Donovan tells Kathimerini.